Running Head: Emergency Management Event Analysis 2 Hurricane Katrina Emergency Management Jessica Perez Interagency Communication Professor Samuel Alexander Phoenix University October 15, 2017 Hurricane Katrina Emergency Management Summary of the event Hurricane Katrina was one of the most disastrous events in the United States of America. The hurricane reached the United States’ Gulf Coast in August, 2005. It caused huge flood, massive damaging, and almost completely displaced Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. According to an estimate, the overall damage caused by Hurricane Katrina was greater than $ 100 billion (Pou, 2008). The hurricane also left people wondering about the arrangements of Federal government of the United States to deal with the hurricane. It was already known that New Orleans is risky for flooding, and there have been massive flooding in the past too. Almost, 80 % of the city went under water and more than 50,000 people even did not have any access to cars or other vehicles because of massive flooding. It also destroyed economy of the affected areas as almost 21000 to 22000 businesses remained shuttered up until six months after the Hurricane Katrina (Moynihan, 2009). The aftermaths of the storms were too negative and it took so long to overcome the tragic disaster. Outline the response by police and fire agencies The performance of police and fire departments remained inefficient during the storm. The police department of New Orleans did not seem to be prepared for the event despite the pre-notifications. The Louisiana State Police sent the notifications to its personnel to be prepared for the emergency response. The joint headquarters along with the Louisiana National Guard personnel, helped to mobilize around 2000 people. For the disaster relief operation, the National Guard service of Mississippi prepared its 750 personnel (Pou, 2008). However, on duty employees moved to secure buildings from the fire stations. On the other hand, many firefighters were not present at their duties at the time of massive flooding and storm. There was no actual system of accountability for such personnel. Even some firefighters had left the city to go across the Mississippi River. There were a large number of phone calls to the fire department of New Orleans, but they did not send firefighters to the location of disaster. The director of Emergency Management clearly said that during the storm, they could not put the lives of firefighters at risk. Detail roles within structured command In 2005, Unified Command, as a piece of the National Incident Management System (NIMS), was effectively utilized as a part of the state-government reaction to the cataclysmic debacle caused by Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi. The four major components to decide the individuals from a Unified Command include: the main authority, the co-area, equality and basic comprehension. Changes made to ICS in the Mississippi reaction incorporate expandi ...

1. Running Head: Emergency Management Event Analysis 2
Hurricane Katrina Emergency Management
Jessica Perez
Interagency Communication
Professor Samuel Alexander
Phoenix University
October 15, 2017
Hurricane Katrina Emergency Management
Summary of the event
Hurricane Katrina was one of the most disastrous events in the
United States of America. The hurricane reached the United
States’ Gulf Coast in August, 2005. It caused huge flood,
massive damaging, and almost completely displaced Louisiana,
Alabama, and Mississippi. According to an estimate, the overall
damage caused by Hurricane Katrina was greater than $ 100
billion (Pou, 2008). The hurricane also left people wondering
about the arrangements of Federal government of the United
States to deal with the hurricane. It was already known that
New Orleans is risky for flooding, and there have been massive
flooding in the past too. Almost, 80 % of the city went under
water and more than 50,000 people even did not have any access
to cars or other vehicles because of massive flooding. It also

2. destroyed economy of the affected areas as almost 21000 to
22000 businesses remained shuttered up until six months after
the Hurricane Katrina (Moynihan, 2009). The aftermaths of the
storms were too negative and it took so long to overcome the
tragic disaster.
Outline the response by police and fire agencies
The performance of police and fire departments remained
inefficient during the storm. The police department of New
Orleans did not seem to be prepared for the event despite the
pre-notifications. The Louisiana State Police sent the
notifications to its personnel to be prepared for the emergency
response. The joint headquarters along with the Louisiana
National Guard personnel, helped to mobilize around 2000
people. For the disaster relief operation, the National Guard
service of Mississippi prepared its 750 personnel (Pou, 2008).
However, on duty employees moved to secure buildings from
the fire stations. On the other hand, many firefighters were not
present at their duties at the time of massive flooding and
storm. There was no actual system of accountability for such
personnel. Even some firefighters had left the city to go across
the Mississippi River. There were a large number of phone calls
to the fire department of New Orleans, but they did not send
firefighters to the location of disaster. The director of
Emergency Management clearly said that during the storm, they
could not put the lives of firefighters at risk.
Detail roles within structured command
In 2005, Unified Command, as a piece of the National Incident
Management System (NIMS), was effectively utilized as a part
of the state-government reaction to the cataclysmic debacle
caused by Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi. The four major
components to decide the individuals from a Unified Command
include: the main authority, the co-area, equality and basic
comprehension. Changes made to ICS in the Mississippi
reaction incorporate expanding the unified command idea down
the anchor to encourage joint basic leadership at all levels.
Uncertain issues incorporate the part of the Principal Federal

3. Official, Federal Coordinating Officer, government management
of multi-state catastrophes, and the consideration of segments of
the Department of Defense in a Unified Command (Edward D.
Frohlich, 2006).
Outline crisis response objectives
The Homeland Security Department and other federal
departments issued their crisis responses to Hurricane Katrina.
The responses showed that the hurricane left major questions on
security arrangements, public health management system, role
of media, and role of many other agencies involved in the
disastrous event. There were no proper arrangement to displace
people from the point of disaster to a safe place. The major
objectives of the crisis response were to find the causes and
events that caused such stations. The report issued by the
Federal Government about crisis response showed that the local
government and federal government should work with
collaboration, the individuals should prepare themselves for
emergencies and the initiatives should be recognized at each
level.
Decision making strategies and challenges faced by leaders in
working through the event
The fundamental decision making chain of the model starts
with a danger or cautioning of a forthcoming occasion. The
essential concentration was the decision of the nearby
government on regardless of whether to clear. The
administration assemble examined the decisions and moves that
were made when a debacle advances past the extent of the
nearby government. Here, it wound up plainly vital for more
elevated amounts of government to make a move. The planning
bunch was on an alternate course of events from whatever was
left of the model since it was expected to occur before the risk
or cautioning is gotten. It was incorporated into the model since
it gave the plans and significant systems for conceivable
courses of activities to be considered by decision producers
(Pou, 2008).
There were a number of leadership challenges that were faced

4. during and after the Hurricane Katrina. First of all, the major
challenge was to collaborate with all the departments. A major
challenge was to make a proper emergency plan that included
several departments like Police, fire, and public health etc.
because the department heads did not want to put their
employees at risk. Also, because of the huge level of disaster, it
was nearly impossible to displace and safely move a large
number of people to other safe cities. Apart from that, it caused
a lot of budget constraints to make emergency arrangements for
a huge catastrophe like Hurricane Katrina (Pou, 2008).
References
Edward D. Frohlich, M. A.-W. (2006). Hurricane Katrina: The
Challenge to the Academic Institution. Ochsner Journal, 6(1),
36–37.
Moynihan, D. P. (2009). The Response to Hurricane Katrina .
Intetnational Risk Governance Council , 1-11.
Pou, A. M. (2008). Hurricane Katrina and Disaster
Preparedness. The New England Journal of Medicine, 358.